Analysis: Behind Al-Jazeera's Purchase Of Current

Al-Jazeera's just-announced acquisition of Current TV for about $500 million "is a coming of age moment," writes Brian Stelter. The "pan-Arab news giant... just bought itself 40 million more
chances to make its case" that it's "a legitimate news organization, not a parrot of Middle Eastern propaganda or something more sinister." Like Current, which "similarly, has suffered from paltry
ratings," Al Jazeera has the challenge of "persuading Americans to watch — an extremely tough proposition given the crowded television marketplace and the stereotypes about the channel that
persist to this day."